Migration: Leave to Enter UK

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many persons were given leave to enter the United Kingdom in employment-related categories in 2004; and what number they estimate will be admitted in each of the five years 2005 to 2009, following the changes to the work schemes announced in Controlling our Borders: Making Managed Migration Work for Britain.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The latest published data relate to 2003 and are shown in the table. In a flexible and dynamic labour market, such as that of the UK, it is impractical to make forecasts of this nature. The Government's plans for changes to the work schemes are outlined in Controlling our Borders: Making Migration Work for Britain, the five-year plan for asylum and immigration. The Government are committed to ensuring that UK employers have access to the skills and experience they need in order to maximise the economic benefits to the UK from migration. Skilled migrant workers should be enabled to fill vacancies which cannot be filled from within the UK or EU. Data for 2004 will be published in the Home Office statistical bulletin Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom, 2004 in August 2005. Further information on immigration can be found in the Command Paper Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2003 (Cm 6363), available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/commandpubs1.html.
	
		
			 Passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom by selected purpose of journey, excluding EEA nationals, 2003  
			 United Kingdom  
			 Passengers admitted by selected purpose of 
			 journey 2003  
			 Work permit holders (inc deps) of which: 119,000 
			 Permit holders 81,400 
			 Dependants 37,800 
			 UK ancestry 9,150 
			 Domestic Workers 10,600 
			 Working holidaymakers 46,500 
			 Seasonal Agricultural Workers 20,700 
			 Diplomats, consular officers or persons on foreign   and Commonwealth government mission 17,000 
			 Au pairs 15,300

Climate Change

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they consider that, unless action is taken, there will be a growing risk from climate change of adverse effects on economic development, human health and the natural environment and of irreversible long-term changes to our climate and oceans.

Lord Bach: Unless action is taken to tackle climate change, there will be a growing risk of adverse effects on the environment, societies and economies.
	The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in its third assessment report in 2001 that projected climate change will have beneficial and adverse effects on both environmental and socio-economic systems, but the larger the changes and rate of change in climate, the more the adverse effects predominate.
	The department funded the "Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change" scientific conference held at the Met Office earlier this year. The conference indicated that there is now greater clarity and reduced uncertainty about the impacts of climate change across a wide range of systems, sectors and societies. In many cases, the risks are more serious than previously thought. (Papers and presentations are available on the conference website at www.stabilisation2005.com)
	The seriousness of the potential effects reinforces the need for urgent and ambitious action to tackle the emissions that cause climate change. For this reason, climate change is a priority for the UK's presidencies of the G8 and the EU this year. The "Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change" conference found that technological options for significantly reducing emissions over the long term already exist. Large reductions can be attained using a portfolio of options whose costs are likely to be smaller than previously considered.

Climate Change

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they consider that mankind's activities are contributing to global warming and that governments and others must address this issue.

Lord Bach: There is now very strong evidence that human activities are affecting the global climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2001 report noted that there was new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the past 50 years is attributable to human activities.
	Addressing this issue is a government priority, particularly during the presidencies of the G8 and EU during 2005. The UK hosted an international scientific conference "Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change" in February this year to provide an up to date scientific context to the UK's consideration of climate change in its presidency of the G8. The conference considered the risks and potential impacts of climate change associated with a range of different stabilisation levels of greenhouse gas concentrations.

Committee on Radioactive Waste Management

Lord Jenkin of Roding: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to make new appointments to the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management to replace Dr Keith Baverstock and Dr David Ball.

Lord Bach: The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management's (CoRWM's) immediate priority is to complete its current round of consultation on its proposed radioactive waste management options short-list and how these options should be assessed. Generally, its work is currently progressing to schedule and in line with the target of delivering its recommendations by July 2006. Both CoRWM and Defra have taken steps to widen the committee's access to scientific and expert advice. We shall keep under review the question of whether there would be value in making any new appointments to CoRWM in light of the committee's terms of reference and our judgment as to how well it is achieving them.

Committee on Radioactive Waste Management

Lord Jenkin of Roding: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the names of the people appointed to serve on the Scientific Advisory Group to advise the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management; and what are the terms of their appointment.

Lord Bach: The Defra chief scientific adviser's expert panel for the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management is an ad hoc group. The members are:
	Professor Bill Gelletly OBE (Professor of Physics, University of Surrey)
	Professor Peter Guthrie OBE (Professor of Engineering for Sustainable Development, University of Cambridge)
	Professor Stephen Sparks FRS (Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol)
	Professor Nigel Bell (Professor of Environmental Pollution, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine)
	Members were invited to join the group by the Defra chief scientific adviser on the basis of their known expertise in fields relevant to the committee's work. They are paid a daily fee for attendance at meetings and for preparatory work, plus travelling expenses.

DTI: Meetings with Helen Liddell

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any representative, official or Minister from the Department of Trade and Industry has met or had any contact with the right honourable Helen Liddell since 6 May.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The right honourable Helen Liddell has met my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Minister of State for Trade, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government (Sir David King) and Sir Stephen Brown, chief executive, UK Trade and Industry.
	In addition, the High Commissioner (designate) to Australia has held meetings with a number of other officials from the department. She has made these calls in preparation for taking up her appointment.

Electoral Registration

Lord Greaves: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they can provide an estimate of the number of electors in the United Kingdom who are registered at two or more addresses; and, if not, whether they intend to ask the Electoral Commission or other bodies to make the necessary investigations.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: It is possible for certain categories of electors who spend their time equally between two addresses to be lawfully registered at more than one address. Information is not collected on the number of such persons registered. It is not currently intended to ask the Electoral Commission or any other body to investigate this subject.

Electoral Registration

Lord Greaves: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What checks are made to ensure that electors who are registered at two or more addresses do not vote more than once in a general election, whether in person, by post or by proxy.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: It is an offence for any person to vote more than once in a general election. Individual returning officers are responsible for ensuring that elections are conducted in accordance with the requirements of electoral law. The presiding officer at a polling station, acting under the direction of the returning officer, may ask a person applying for a ballot paper if they have already voted at the election, if it is suspected that the voter is attempting to vote more than once at the election. A ballot paper shall not be given to any person required to answer the above question unless they have answered it satisfactorily.

FiReControl and Firelink Projects

Baroness Hanham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they now expect to sign the contract for the information technology systems behind FiReControl; and whether, in view of the delay to the Firelink programme, these two projects can be co-ordinated to ensure an integrated delivery.

Baroness Andrews: The FiReControl and Firelink project teams are working closely together as part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's resilience programme to ensure that we achieve an integrated delivery. We expect to make an announcement on both the issues shortly.

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many licences the Gangmasters Licensing Authority expects to issue to gangmasters in each year; and how many workers will be covered by the regulations (a) at any one time, and (b) during the course of a year.

Lord Bach: Following a Defra commissioned study, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority expects to issue approximately 1,000 licences in the first year from the date when the licensing scheme is introduced. The authority is currently developing proposals for the licensing arrangements, including the length of validity of the licence. The authority will consult on these proposals in due course. The authority anticipates inviting licence applications from spring 2006.
	The Defra-commissioned research indicates that labour providers supply up to 450,000 workers during the course of a year in the agricultural, shellfish gathering and associated food and fish processing and packaging sectors. In an average month, labour providers may supply around 125,000 people. This number will vary month-by-month according to seasonal fluctuations and market demand.

McKinsey and Co.

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	(a) Whether McKinsey and Company Incorporated is currently carrying out any work for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; (b) how many projects the firm has carried out for the department during each year in the past five years; (c) for each project, how long such work lasted and how many McKinsey and Company employees were involved; (d) what was the nature of the contracts with the company; and (e) what was the total value of payments made by the department to McKinsey and Company Incorporated in each of the past five years.

Baroness Andrews: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not awarded any contracts or placed any orders with McKinsey and Company Incorporated since the formation of the department.

McKinsey and Co.

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	(a) Whether McKinsey and Company Incorporated is currently carrying out any work for Monitor—independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts; (b) how many projects the firm has carried out for the agency since its creation; (c) for each project, how long it lasted and how many McKinsey employees were involved; (d) the nature of any such contract; and (e) the total value of payments made by Monitor-independent regulator to McKinsey and Company Incorporated since its creation.

Lord Warner: This is a matter for Monitor (the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of National Health Service foundation trusts). The chairman will write to the noble Lord and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

New Housing: Water Supply

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there is a sufficient water supply available for the proposed new housing in the south and south-east, including the areas where water restrictions are being introduced.

Baroness Andrews: Technical work on water supply and new housing is undertaken by the Environment Agency and the local water companies. This includes work with the South East of England Regional Assembly as part of drafting the new south-east plan—the regional spatial strategy. The work shows, against both current programmes and future growth scenarios, that demand and supply side measures in combination should ensure sufficient water supplies for the necessary growth in housing.

Pathfinder Programme

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How residents groups have been consulted about the Pathfinder programme; and how they are represented on the boards of Pathfinders.

Baroness Andrews: Pathfinders are required to demonstrate that they have appropriate mechanisms for engaging and consulting with the community. This is reviewed by the Audit Commission as part of its scrutiny role. There are a wide variety of ways by which Pathfinders and their constituent local authorities are discharging this responsibility, including opinion surveys, formal consultations, public meetings, meetings with individuals and pressure groups, and involvement in planning and design. Community representation on Pathfinder boards is normally via elected councillors and LSP members. Projects implemented by local authorities are open to public scrutiny in the normal way, as are as projects that proceed through the planning process.

Regional Assemblies

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Following the rejection of the proposed elected assembly in the north-east, what proposals they have for unelected regional bodies.

Baroness Andrews: I refer the noble Baroness to the Statement made by my noble friend Lord Rooker on 8 November 2004 (Official Report, col. 673–76).
	The Government will continue to support regional assemblies and other regional institutions.

Regional Development Agencies: Tourism Officers

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many regional development agencies in England and Wales have a designated tourism officer.

Lord Davies of Oldham: All nine regional development agencies in England have a designated tourism officer, although their job titles differ between regional development agencies.
	The Welsh Development Agency does not have a designated tourism officer. Responsibility for developing tourism policy, for funding and for supporting the industry lies with the Wales Tourist Board.

Rural Maps

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the recent data capture exercise on rural maps, whether staff at Northallerton (a) identified input errors; and (b) corrected input errors.

Lord Bach: Initial digitising work undertaken by external contractors based at Northallerton was subject to quality assurance checks by both the contractor and the Rural Payments Agency. Where an error was discovered it was corrected before the map was sent to the farmer.

Special Advisers

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the terms of Mr David Bennett's employment as head of the Downing Street Policy Unit; and what are his responsibilities; and
	What are the terms of Mr Adair Turner's employment in 10 Downing Street; and what are his responsibilities.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The duties and responsibilities of special advisers are set out in the model contract and code of conduct for special advisers. Special advisers are personal appointments made by Ministers and are outside the rules of open competition.

Tourism: Regeneration Projects

Lord Fearn: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What resource help towards major regeneration projects in English seaside resorts has been given by the English Tourist Board in the past four years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The English Tourism Board (ETB) was abolished in 1999 and replaced by the English Tourism Council (ETC), which then merged with the British Tourism Authority to form VisitBritain in April 2003.
	The ETC and its successor body have not made any direct contributions to major regeneration projects over this period. Its prime responsibility is marketing. VisitBritain received £12.9 million grant-in-aid from my department to market England domestically in 2004–05.
	Specific marketing campaigns for example enjoyEngland, Waterside England and SeaBritain have encouraged tourists to visit England's seaside resorts thus providing indirect support.